Monday, April 18, 2016

Unusual sighting of white pelicans reported in Padilla Bay
Mary Heath and Joe Bucek have grown accustomed to seeing birds in Padilla Bay from the windows of their waterfront home. But the couple spotted something rare Thursday afternoon. A group of about two-dozen American white pelicans spent several hours dining in the bay. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Council Votes To Limit Salmon Fishing Off Washington, Oregon; Averts Full Closure
The Pacific Fisheries Management Council has adopted limited summer salmon fishing seasons off the Washington and northern Oregon coasts. At a meeting on Thursday in Vancouver, the council avoided a complete closure of the season, a possibility that had been discussed in March. The Columbian newspaper reports season closure discussion was prompted by weak coho runs forecast for 2016 in Puget Sound waters and many coastal streams. Two years of warm water in the north Pacific Ocean are considered the likely cause. (Associated Press)

Vancouver [WA] port grants more time for oil-terminal developer
A new lease extension approved Friday by Port of Vancouver commissioners would give developers of a major oil terminal more time to obtain the permits they need to start construction. The terminal would unload 28 trains a week carrying crude oil. Hal Bernton reports. (Seattle Times)

Company withdraws from Oregon-Washington pipeline project
An energy company that wanted to export liquefied natural gas from the northwest Oregon coast will withdraw from the $6 billion terminal and pipeline project, Warrenton officials said. Mayor Mark Kujala told The Daily Astorian that Oregon LNG officials told him the project was being scrapped because backers were no longer willing to put up the money…. Kristin Grainger, a spokeswoman for Gov. Kate Brown, said the company had withdrawn state permits. (Seattle Times/Associated Press)

With killer whales, expect the unexpected
Chris Dunagan in Watching Our Water Ways writes: "…I am reminded again that, while we strive to understand animal behavior, we must not judge them in human terms. I just returned home from the three-day Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference in Vancouver, B.C., where orca researcher Deborah Giles of the Center for Whale Research reported on some seemingly odd behavior among our Southern Resident killer whales. The bottom line is that fish-eating orcas are occasionally attacking and sometimes killing marine mammals, specifically harbor porpoises and Dall’s porpoises. Apparently, they are not eating them…"

Another female calf raises hopes for endangered orca population
Orca researchers have confirmed that one more calf born in the endangered southern resident population is a female. Photographs taken earlier this week confirmed the calf J53 is a female, according to the Centre for Whale Research in Washington state. Only one other of the eight surviving calves in the so-called "orca baby boom" — J50 —is a confirmed female. Five others are male, while the sex of one, L123, remains undetermined. Researchers say the survival of the two female calves is particularly important because they will help repopulate the endangered population of orcas. About 50 per cent of orca calves die before reaching maturity, according to experts. Mike Laanela reports. (CBC)

"How We Save Whales from Space"The Whale Trail presents Oregon State University's Bruce Mate, a leader in the development of satellite-monitored radio telemetry, speaking about tracking critically endangered marine mammals. His work has led to the discovery of previously unknown migration routes and seasonal distributions (wintering and summering areas), as well as descriptions of diving behavior to better understand feeding effort. This Earth Day event will be held at 7 PM on April 21 at The Hall at Fauntleroy, 9131 California Ave SW, Seattle. Tickets are $10 adults and $5 kids under 12; brownpapertickets.com

$30 million cleanup begins on ‘disgusting’ former Navy dump
During the fall's heavy rains, this deep ravine roars with dozens of waterfalls. The white water tumbles into pools where spawning salmon swim, and where their springtime descendants hatch and begin their trek out to sea. It's a stretch of Gorst Creek that would be quite beautiful if the waterfalls weren't actually pouring from mounds of trash, and if the salmon weren't swimming alongside rusty car parts, paint cans, batteries and shredded heaps of plastic sheeting…. After decades of use as a Navy dump and a few more decades of indecision over who should deal with it, the ravine is finally being cleaned up. Tristan Baurick reports. (Kitsap Sun)

12-month finding on a petition to list the island marble butterfly
The U.S. ​Fish and Wildlife Service has determined that the island marble butterfly (Euchloe ausonides insulanus) is warranted for listing under the Endangered Species Act, but precluded by higher priority listing actions. The island marble butterfly will be added to the service's candidate species list. These are species for which the service has enough information regarding their biological status and threats to propose them as threatened or endangered, but listing is currently precluded by higher priority listing activities…. The island marble butterfly is a species only found in the San Juan archipelago in San Juan County, Washington. The only remaining known population is centered on American Camp, a part of San Juan Island National Historical Park on San Juan Island. (National Park Service/San Juan Journal)

B.C. continues to purchase carbon offsets, total now more than $50 million
If you thought the controversial B.C. Crown corporation Pacific Carbon Trust was gone, you would only be partly right. The agency was eliminated in 2013, along with it its staff of 18. But the work the trust carried out – acting as a broker of carbon credits – continues inside government, in the B.C. Ministry of Environment’s Climate Action Secretariat. In 2010, the B.C. government starting making schools, hospitals and universities reduce their net carbon emissions to zero, and as a result the public institutions were forced to pay to have outside projects reduce carbon emissions in their stead. These reductions are often called carbon credits or offsets. By the end of 2014, British Columbia had paid out $53.4 million to buy these carbon offsets from major forest companies such as Canfor and Interfor, energy companies such as ARC Resources, and increasingly from a First Nation consortium whose traditional territory encompass the Great Bear Rainforest on B.C.’s central coast, according to data assembled by The Vancouver Sun. In 2014 alone, the province purchased $10.2 million in carbon offsets from the Great Bear initiative. Gordon Hoekstra reports. (Vancouver Sun)

TODAY E WIND 15 TO 25 KT...BECOMING W 5 TO 15 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT...SUBSIDING TO 2 FT OR LESS IN THE AFTERNOON. W SWELL 6 FT AT 13 SECONDS.

TONIGHT W WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 6 FT AT 12 SECONDS.
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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato@salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

About Me

Salish Sea Communications provides communications and public relations services that raise visibility and engage audiences. Drawing on over 30 years experience in private, public and not-for-profit work, Mike Sato brings to you his skills and insights in developing and carrying out your print, electronic and social media projects and products. "I've been in the communications business since 1977 starting with community weekly newspapers then working for Seattle City Light, the Puget Sound Water Quality Authority, Hawaiian Electric Company and, for 20 years, People For Puget Sound." Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told. WA State UBI #601395482